Gravlax

International Relations

Culver City’s Scandinavian-Turkish Watering Hole

If only there were a new Scandinavian-Turkish watering hole with Spanish wine and California beers to keep
the spirit of international unity alive...

Light the fire within at Gravlax, a corner wine-and-beer bar with a higher quota of Scandinavian
and Turkish food than, well, every other bar you could name—it’s soft-opening Wednesday in Culver
City.

Like a miner’s saloon wearing an ironic animal T-shirt, here it is—a rustic cavern of exposed beams and
bricks, wooden barrels, rusty sheet metal and the
occasional massive reindeer mural that’ll make for a good conversation starter when you bring a casual
date here. As in, “Hey, look, there’s a reindeer mural on the wall.”

Grab two stools at the long, curved bar. Order, oh, let’s say an albariño and an El Segundo pale ale. The
menu’s still being developed, but safe to say you will have a short selection of Turkish and Scandinavian
bar snacks to choose from—think open-faced sandwiches covered with house-cured salmon and dill, or spicy
tabbouleh with goat gouda.